Paper Treatments

Apollo Theater Tickets

Backing removal

Photo Documention

Click thumbnails to view images.

Treatment Report

Date: March 16, 2010

Address: Museum of the City of New York

Title/Subject/Description: Multiple print advertisements for the Apollo Variety and Burlesque theater shows

Date of production: c. 1930's, variable

Place of production: Unknown, preseumably New York, NY

Approximate dimensions (hxw): Variable

Conservator: Nora Lockshin, Beth Antoine

Description

Primary Support

Variable, primary substrates are colored paper and paperboard substrates; secondary mounts are brown paper leaves, possibly from a weekly minder. Evidence of 2 hole punch on margin of brown paper

Media

Black printers ink; some pencil & stamp ink annotations

Overall

The objects to be treated for exhibition include 4 show tickets made from printed paper and pasteboards (yellow, orange, red, red), and one theater program on plain paper (printed on two sides, folded folio). Offset printed media includes show titles, dates, times and illustrations of burlesque performers. Several of the cards are printed on two sides, although not all are visible on the verso. Lettering on the yellow ticket appears hand-drawn but is mechanically reproduced from original art. At least one card bears doodling in graphite, and one bears an ink stamp with the initials MS - likely not a cancellation but a property mark of some kind (perhaps the initials of a producer or manager to designate that this was a gift card?)

The cards (not the brochure) are mounted and adhered to brown Kraft paper, perhaps stationary filler separators from a pocket binder or agenda as torn holes are evident on the long sides of the mount paper. There are penciled initials on the verso of the brown paper mounts, but the meaning of these marks is unknown at this time by the curators. The adhesive used to mount the tickets is unknown, but appears to have been all applied in one sitting. Besides the 4 specified Apollo Theater tickets which have been described and pointed out by Drew Talley, NMAAHC Registrar, there are 3 additional tickets for other theaters on the brown paper leaves that will not be exhibited.

Condition

Overall

The items are in good condition. They appear to have been handled, but unused (for the purposes of entry to a show - no annotations or punches appear as cancellation marks). The support mounting leaves are brittle and friable, and show discoloration. One pink ticket (not for exhibition) has a ~5 cm tear through the support paper and the ticket. The brochure is unmounted; the center fold is a bit off vertical, so that the edges are not flush but this appears to be original.

Media

The media all appear stable. The pencils nor the dyes in the colored paper have not yet been tested for solubility.

Housing

The objects were received in a hinged foam core board support package for travel; the whole leaves were individually wrapped with glassine and stabilized to the board support with paper corners and tape.

Factors influencing treatment

It is desired and agreed to by MNAAHC and the loaning museum, Museum of the City of New York to separate the tickets from the brown paper for the purposes of exhibition. The brittle paper is contributing acid to the tickets via contact migration, and is currently inadequate support for the tickets as can be seen by the tear through one of the items. In addition, print on the verso of the tickets is obscured. While there are marks of some kind on the verso of the ticket mounts, their context and meaning is unknown. This information will be contextually separated during this treatment, but Before Treatment documentation photos can be used to virtually reconstruct and examine these for future interpretation.

Testing has been performed that shows adhesive is soluble in water, water/ethanol mixture, water/methylcellulose poultice and heated water mist. However, immersion in water could cause a color shift to the dyes, loss of crispness to the print impression, release of brown degradation products and/or bubbles or delamination of the laminate paperboard structure. Complete backing removal appears to be possible with heated mist dampening the backing brown paper but is slow. Longer term dwell of poultice caused the printed inks to swell and dislodge more easily, with more lift-off. It is the conservator's opinion that the mist is most effective with the least risk to the media. Tickets may retain some gloss of remaining adhesive (probably dextrin/vegetal glue/mucilage), which is acceptable.

Anticipated results of treatment

Tickets will be released from an inadequate and damaging environment, and will be able to be handled and examined individually in better enclosures. If time allows, in addition, the "extra" non-Apollo Theatre objects not being considered for exhibition will also be treated and rehoused so as to provide a complete rehousing strategy for these items. The curator will be contacted directly by phone or email to confirm this final rehousing.

Treatment Proposal

  1. Before treatment imaging & documentation.
  2. Mechanical removal of brown support paper with the following methods: a. spatula and scalpel where unadhered, followed by mechanical removal using heated ultrasonic mist water (Preservation Pencil). b. Fragments that fail to separate will be treated with direct application of water through methylcellulose poultice or pinpoint application by brush, and rolled off with tweezers or spatula. c. Resistant fragments may be treated with Albertina enzymatic compress for amylase starch residues. Rinsing or swabbing the area with a damp swab may be necessary after treatment with the compress, but full immersion is unlikely.
  3. Humidification and flattening under weights where deemed necessary after mechanical removal.
  4. After treatment imaging & documentation.
  5. Mounting in document wraps (full Mylar wrap over ArtCare mat board, larger by 1/16" on all sides); preparation of Mylar sleeves for encapsulation or sourcing of pre-made sleeve pages or 4x5 polyester photo enclosures for all objects, per discussion with curator.
  6. Delivery of all objects & sleeves to NMAAHC / SITES for exhibition and storage.

Treatment Performed

  1. "Before Treatment" photo documentation of front & back of all tickets and their mounting leaves; the program was also photographed on all sides.
  2. The mounting leaves for the tickets were cut leaving a safe margin around each ticket, so as to be able to treat each ticket individually.
    1. IL2010-7.2 Ticket #1 Yellow

      After encountering resistance to effective, efficient mechanical removal with ultrasonic mist-steam (reverse osmosis water, heated to 100C using Preservation Pencil). Testing with methylcellulose/water poultice, and Albertina compress (amylase enzymatic poultice) showed that the adhesive was gellable/denatured by direct moisture and enzymatic action respectively. However, the yellow dye in the paper also reacted and so is either water soluble or starch-based pigment, also vulnerable to enzymatic digestion. The tested areas appear slightly lighter in color, and therefore these techniques were abandoned. The brown paper backing was removed by mechanical separation, using a thinned stainless steel spatula and ultrasonic mist-steam (reverse osmosis water, heated to 100C using Preservation Pencil). The adhesive did not gel or soften under steam, but was rather brittle. Thicker residues of adhesive and groundwood fiber were scraped down dry, using a #15 scalpel blade. The front side of the ticket was lightly surface cleaned with a white vinyl eraser removing a thin film of grime. (Nora Lockshin)

    2. IL2010-7.3 Ticket #2 Orange ticket

      The backing paper was thinned down overall with a #15 scalpel blade. Because the ticket was previously partially detached from the backing paper, the detached areas were folded back and trimmed off. Adhered areas were removed mechanically with a thinned micro-spatula, and thicker residues of adhesive and groundwood fiber were scraped down dry, using a #15 scalpel blade. (Beth Antoine)

    3. IL2010-7.4 Ticket #3 Red (burlesque performer inside heart, left)

      The backing paper was thinned down overall with a #15 scalpel blade. Because the ticket was previously partially detached from the backing paper, the detached areas were folded back and trimmed off. Adhered areas were removed mechanically with a thinned micro-spatula, and thicker residues of adhesive and groundwood fiber were scraped down dry, using a #15 scalpel blade. There are some areas of loss to the red surface coating attached to the previously detached backing paper. These losses were not recovered. Some areas of adhesive residue were left in place in order to avoid damage to the fragile red coating. These areas appear slightly hazy, but no text or imagery is obscured. (Beth Antoine)

    4. IL2010-7.5 Ticket #4 Red (burlesque performer inside rectangle, left)

      The backing paper was thinned down overall with a #15 scalpel blade. Because the ticket was previously partially detached from the backing paper, the detached areas were folded back and trimmed off. Adhered areas were removed mechanically with a thinned micro-spatula, and thicker residues of adhesive and groundwood fiber were scraped down dry, using a #15 scalpel blade. There are some areas of loss to the red surface coating attached to the previously detached backing paper. These losses were not recovered. Some areas of adhesive residue were left in place in order to avoid damage to the fragile red coating. These areas appear slightly hazy, but no text or imagery is obscured. (Beth Antoine)

    5. (Not for exhibition) Pink Irving Place burlesque

      The brown paper backing was removed by mechanical separation, using a thinned stainless steel spatula and ultrasonic mist-steam (reverse osmosis water, heated to 100C using Preservation Pencil). The adhesive did not gel or soften under steam, but the paper support did, therefore thicker residues of adhesive and groundwood fiber were scraped down dry, using a #15 scalpel blade. A structural mend of lightweight Japanese tissue was applied to the extant tear with methylcellulose. (Nora Lockshin)

    6. (Not for exhibition) Green Irving Place burlesque (adhered on verso)

      The backing paper was thinned down overall with a #15 scalpel blade. Because the ticket was previously partially detached from the backing paper, the detached areas were folded back and trimmed off. The brown paper backing was removed by mechanical separation, using a thinned stainless steel spatula and ultrasonic mist-steam (reverse osmosis water, heated to 100C using Preservation Pencil). Thicker residues of adhesive and groundwood fiber were scraped down dry, using a #15 scalpel blade. (Beth Antoine)

    7. (Not for exhibition) Green Irving Place burlesque (adhered on recto)

      The backing paper was thinned down overall with a #15 scalpel blade. Because the ticket was previously partially detached from the backing paper, the detached areas were folded back and trimmed off. The brown paper backing was removed by mechanical separation, using a thinned stainless steel spatula and ultrasonic mist-steam (reverse osmosis water, heated to 100C using Preservation Pencil). Thicker residues of adhesive and groundwood fiber were scraped down dry, using a #15 scalpel blade. Much of the media on the recto (adhesive side) is blurred, likely caused by being pasted up when initially adhered to the backing sheet. (Beth Antoine)

  3. The treated items (2a-g) were humidified in a closed tray for X hours and flattened under weight.
  4. Housing:
    1. The exhibition items were all placed in standard document wraps for exhibition with no other hinge attachments. (Doc wraps = Mylar over ArtCare Alpharag mat board, taped on verso.)
    2. The non-exhibition items were placed in similarly sized Mylar photo sleeves for return to MCNY via NMAAHC Registrar, per verbal discussion with MCNY Registrar (3/22/10).